While the party left behind may say the defected MP has betrayed the voters in a particular riding, the party gaining a soldier usually says that MP is best positioned to know exactly what his or her constituents want —and it’s not (insert name of former affiliation here).

Parliament has kept tabs on MPs who have either jumped from one party to another or been elected under two parties, though it notes difficulty with tracking some of the earlier examples.

The first ever MP to cross the floor was Stewart Campbell, the Nova Scotia MP who, on Aug. 30, 1868, crossed from the Anti-Confederates to the Liberal-Conservatives.

Over the next 146 years, 270 more followed in his footsteps, with Eve Adams on Monday becoming the 271st MP ever to leave the party under which she was first elected to either become an independent or sit with another party, according to the Parliament of Canada.

The numbers also show that, in walking over to the Liberal side from the Conservatives, Adams became the 18th MP to cross the floor since the May 2, 2011 election —a relatively high number compared to Parliaments of recent past.